I don’t consider myself a hoarder, just a procrastinator. It is time to get my house in order. You see, I have boxes and boxes of possessions that I must get to when I have nothing else to do. That day never comes. I have made lists of the boxes and their contents, and have a rough idea of the size of the job that is coming up for me. You see, I have moved many times in my life and simplified my belongings at each move. But somehow, boxes of books, papers, memorabilia, photos, clothing and correspondence have kept accumulating until they fill one closet, a half of another closet, and half of a screen porch. I also have a few beach items in an outside storage area. When I think about the work of sorting that is ahead of me I get panicked. I think to myself, "I can’t do it. It’s too big a job. I will never be able to follow through."

My friend Gail came over one day and helped me sort through some boxes of clothes on the floor of my bedroom closet: four or five boxes. It took half a day. It was a good start, and my friend was unrelenting. "Are you sure you need that?"

My question was, "Can I keep doing this on my own?" I was worried that memories would flood back with each item of clothing (like the expensive black dress I wore to my husband’s memorial service) and slow me down. And when I came to the boxes of photos and correspondence would the memories and regrets over letters unanswered do me in?

The more I thought about it the more I was sure I couldn’t do it alone. I couldn’t ask my friend to take all the time needed to help me get this task accomplished, either. I had to devise another plan.

Finally it occurred to me that I could ask for Jesus’ help. I could pray and meditate for the right answer for me.

Not long after I realized that I should ask the Creative Forces for help, I had a dream. I was standing facing a man in a robe of some kind. He had a very kind face and obviously he was a beautiful soul. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "June, will you marry me?" I looked him straight in the eye, too, and I said without a moment’s hesitation, "Of course I’ll marry you. I love you with all my heart!"

As I thought about the dream, I knew that it must be Jesus. No one else has ever looked at me so intensely with such love. It was as though he was asking me for a commitment, a promise. I knew immediately what the dream meant. I would get the help I needed for this huge task, but only if I remained faithful to my ideals.

So the advice from Edgar Cayce in his life reading for me was the ideal I needed. He said, "though you have started on a career in music, make the home the career, for this is the greatest career there is in the earth. Those who shun same will have much yet to answer for. Then make thy home as a shadow of the heavenly home." That a family group and their living quarters can mirror the peaceful, orderly, creative, joyous heavenly home seems an almost unattainable goal here on Earth. But I am committed to giving it a try. Edgar assured us that the trying is "counted for righteousness."

I have Virgo rising so I love order. But loving order and creating order are two different things. I am on a journey to find out how to create order. These are the questions I will be asking myself:

Can I give thanks every day for the loving care God has given me throughout my life? That loving care is often expressed in the thoughts, gifts and words of friends. Can I give thanks and throw out all but the most treasured correspondence? How long will I see an unanswered letter and be overcome with feelings of guilt?

I have many years of memories: cherished items of my children’s growing-up years, family photos, photos of tours Harmon and I have led, tapes of our lectures, correspondence of all sorts, clothes I will probably never again wear, like the expensive black dress I bought for Harmon’s memorial service. There are so many boxes, that if I counted them, I would probably give up the whole venture. Well, not since my dream.

These are the questions I keep asking myself:

Can I keep the Holy Spirit alive in me as I work?

Can I be patient with myself when I start to tire?

Can I stop for a moment to listen for the guidance I need to hear?

Can I find joy in every aspect of the task at hand?

Can I wait for that sweet jolt of heavenly energy and go on when the going gets hard?

Excerpt from June Bro’s column “The Art of Living” from the Jul-Sep 2013 Venture Inward Magazine. A.R.E. Members can read the current issue and past issues in our online Member Section at EdgarCayce.org/members.

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Dr. June Avis Bro found her life deeply affected by working daily with Edgar Cayce when she and her husband, Harmon, came to Virginia Beach in 1943. She set about sharing her interests with others as a pastoral counselor and minister, as well as by using her skills in the performing arts. She has a graduate ministerial degree from Andover-Newton Theological School, near Boston, and a doctorate from Chicago Theological Seminary. In addition to teaching on six campuses while raising five children, she has been a research assistant at Harvard, lectured and held workshops in many cities, led overseas tours to the Near East and China, and served as pastor. A concert pianist, she has served on the music staff in churches of most of the major Protestant denominations and draws on her background in the arts to illuminate myths, symbols, and dreams. At age ninety, she released her first piano CD called “Soul Soundings,” which is being sold in the A.R.E. Bookstore. Her column for A.R.E.’s Venture Inward Magazine, "The Art of Living" is based on her life reading given by Mr. Cayce in 1944. She wrote the forward to the recently re-released book A Seer Out of Season written by Harmon Bro.